Shade-roller wrench



Sept. 1l, 1951 L.. F. HRIBAR SHADE-ROLLER WRENCH Filed Jan. 16, 1948 awww@ Patented Sept. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHADE-ROLLER. WRENCH K Lloyd F. Hribar, Duluth, Minn.

, ,Application January 16, 1948, Serial No. 2,701

, 1 My invention relates to wrenches and more particularly to wrenches for window shade rollers. The springs in window shade rollers may, through constant usage, lose some of their resiliency and require tightening in order that they may be adapted properly to raise a window shade which is carried by the roller. Occasionally a new and longer shade will be substituted for the shade originally wound upon the roller and such substitution will require the spring to be more tightly wound in order to increase its tension so that it may roll up the greater length of shade promptly and completely, Again, the spring of the roller may accidentally become released entirely, whereupon it will become completely unable to `-wind up the shade upon the roller.

As is well known, the end of the shade-roller shaft (sometimes referred to as the spring rod) is small and, therefore, is very difficult to grip with the iingers. Furthermore, it is generally rectangular in cross section so that it has sharp corners, which may hurt the fingers when the end is gripped and particularly if it rotates quickly between the fingers when, for example, the spring releases suddenly. Because of the size of the protruding end of the shade-roller shaft and because of the sensitiveness of a person's ngers, one is not readily able to increase the tension of the spring beyond a certain point by winding up the shade-roller shaft with the lingers. Generally, the amount which the shaft is wound up by the fingers is insufcient. As a result, it has become a common practice of housewives when faced with the problem of lwinding up the shade-roller shaft, in order to increase the tension of the spring, to employ some article readily at hand, such as a dinner fork. The reduced end of the shade-roller shaft is forced between a pair of tines in order to employ the forkV as a wrench by gripping the shaft of the fork. This frequently results in damage to the fork. In addition, the tines'do not obtain a satisfactory grip on the end of the shade-roller shaft and may; therefore slip offv of the shaft. Occasionally the spring completely releases when the fork suddenly disengages from the shaft. Then, too, it is not uncommon for the user momentarily to lose a grip on the fork, whereupon the tension of the spring may cause the fork to rotate in the opposite direction with such velocity that it is completely flung clear of the shaft. This may result in injury to the user if struck by the handle or tines of the moving fork.

It` isone objectV of my invention to provide a wrench which is particularly fitted for winding up the shade-roller shaft in order to adjust the tension of the spring inside of said roller.

It is another object of my invention to construct the wrench inexpensively, by stampingit from sheet metal, for example, while yet making it strong and durable. Such construction has the further advantage of being lightweight and making the wrench easier to store when not in use. Also it provides adjustability, to be described later.

It is a particular advantage of my shade-roller wrench that it is easily `guided into position wherein it engages the end of the shade-roller shaft and it continues to be easily held in engagingposition as it is rotated `to wind up the spring in the roller.

It is yet another advantage of my shade-roller wrench that it is adapted to wind up the spring of the roller without permitting the spring to unwind if the wrench is inadvertently released,

by the user.

In one formof my invention I provide a plurality of sockets of different sizes in order to accommodate different sizes of ends of shade-roller shafts.

Other objects, uses or advantages will become apparent from the following written description when taken with the accompanying drawing in which:

FigureY 1 is a plan view of the shade-roller wrench f my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure l, the end o a shade-roller being shown in dotted outline;

Figure` 3 is an enlarged sectional view, on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, with the handle of the wrench being indicated by dotted outline and the end of the shade roller being shown in solid line; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the wrench in a position wherein the dog is engaged by a pawl of the shade roller to prevent un-winding of the spring of the roller, the arrow indicating the direction of movement of the handle of the wrench when the spring tends to unwind. p

Like reference numerals have been employed in the several views to indicate the same or similar elements. l

Referring now to the figures of the drawing, the body member, or what may be called the wrench, generally, is indicated by the reference numeral l, and it has a handle portion 3 and a head portionvv5. Ihe diameter of the head portion 5 is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the end of the shade roller, which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 6. The handle 3 may, of course, take various shapes and be of different lengths but in its preferred form it is formed integrally with the head portion 5 by stamping the two portions from sheet metal. When the body member I is thus stamped from sheet metal, I prefer simultaneously to form a plurality of arms 9 extending radially from the head, which arms are subsequently bent to a position at right angles to the plane of the body member I so that they are parallel to each other and to the central longitudinal axis of the head and of the aperture or socket I, which is punched out centrally of the head 5. v

The socket 'I is rectangular in outline and is adapted to be of substantially the same dimensions as the cross-sectional dimensions of the protruding end of the shade-roller shaft I I of the shade roller 5. It Will be understood that the socket l may be formed with differing dimensions in order to accommodate it to different sizes of shade roller shafts. However, shade rollers, such as shade roller 5, are generally7 standardized in form and size, and the protruding ends of the shade-roller shaft also are subn stantially uniform. The socket 'I may be formed sufficiently large to accommodate variations in the sizes of the shade-roller shafts but, if desired, another and smaller socket, indicated in dotted lines by the reference numeral 8 in Figure 1, may be formed at the center of the head portion 5 of the wrench I. In such event, the second socket, whether larger or smaller than socket l', preferably is placed at right angles to the socket l', but with its center coinciding with the center of the socket l.

The arms 9, which in Figure 2 are shown as L being downwardly turned from the body member I, form a discontinuous wall which is adapted to engage the metal end cap I5, which is fastened on to the end of the shade roller 6 and which encircles the shade-roller shaft II. The arms 9 are adapted to t about the end cap I5 and be rotatable thereabout as the wrench is rotated to wind up the shaft I I and the spring (not shown) within the shade-roller 5. It will be obvious that the socket 'I is non-rotatable relative to the shade-roller shaft II when the socket 'I fits about said shaft. Preferably the arms 9 are equi-distantly spaced about the periphery of the head portion 5, but, in any event, it is preferred to have engagement of the arms at three points about the periphery of the end cap I5 of shade roller 5, said three points lying on an arc which includes an angle greater than 180.

It will be observed that the length of the arms 9 is such as to embrace the end cap VI5 of the shade roller 6 prior to engagement of the socket 'I about the shade-roller shaft II. rll-his enables the user of the wrench quickly to engage the shaft I I, since it is only necessary to t the arms 9 about the circular end cap I5 of shade roller 6 and insert it thereon until the'inner surface I'! of the head portion 5 abuts against the outer# most end of the shaft I I. Then slight rotation of the Wrench in either direction about the end cap I5 Will cause the socket to coincide with the shaft I I, whereupon the wrench may be further inserted upon the end cap I5 of shade roller S and about the shaft II. The arms 9, in effect, form a socket for the end of the shade roller 6 and they assist in maintaining the wrench in engaged position with respect to the shade-roller shaft II, as the wrench is rotated about the end of the shade roller 6. There is, therefore, no tendency of the wrench to wobble or pivot on the shaft II in a direction axially of the shaft as the user rotates the wrench, even though the shade-roller shaft II may be smaller than the socket l. Any such wobbling of the wrench would have the tendency of letting it slip off the end of the shade-roller shaft II with the possibility that the spring within the roller might then completely unwind. The wrench of my invention, however, tends to prevent accidental disengagement of the wrench from about the shade-roller shaft II, as just explained.

In those forms of shade-roller which have the disk I8 protruding axially of the shade-roller 5 beyond the end cap I5, it is even more important that structure, such as arms 9, be employed t0 encircle the end cap I5 in order to prevent wobbling of the wrench on the shaft II, since the disk I8 would not offer as good support for the head 5 during rotation as would the end surface of end cap I5.

It will be noted that by forming a socket for the end of the shade-roller 5 by means of arms 9 instead of by a circular flange or cup, the user may, when necessary or desirable, adjust the arms 9 by forcing them inwardly toward each other, or outwardly from each other, in order to accommodate shade-rollers of different diameters. If the arms 9 are to be deformable as just mentioned, preferably they should be formed from stock of suchv strength that they will tend to retain the position to which they are forced.

In one form of my invention, I may provide additional means for preventing the spring (not shown) of the shade roller 6 from'unwinding accidentally when the user of the wrench inadvertently loses his grip on the handle. This means comprises a dog I9, which extends substantially at right angles from the head portion 5 in the same direction as the arms 9 extend. The dog I9 is, however, positioned radially closer to the socket 'I than are the arms 9 so that said dog may cooperate with the pawls 2| which are positioned at the end of the shade roller 6. The pawls 2I are of a known type and are pivoted as at 23 to the end of the shade roller 6 and are gravityactuated to engage in notches 25 of disc 21 in order to hold the shade in any position to which it is drawn. When the pawls 2I are disengaged from the notches 25, the shade may be raised or lowered but the roller has a tendency, under the action of the spring, to raise the shade and wind it up.

In winding up the spring (not shown) of the shade-roller 6, the handle 3 is rotated in a clock-wise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, and the dog I9 cams the pawls out of its way as it rotates past them. However, if the user of the wrench inadvertently releases his grip upon the handle,the spring may unwind and rotate the handle in a counterclockwise direction, as is shown in Figure 4 by the arrow A. However, such rotation will be limited because the dog I9 will promptly engage against one of the pawls 2 I. The dog I9, in cooperation with the pawls ZI of the shade-roller 5, therefore, prevents the wrench lfrom being wildly rotated by release of the spring of the shade roller and, consequently, prevents possibly injury to the user of the wrench or injury to the shade roller. It will be seen that the dog I9 may be formed integrally from the head portion 5 of the body member I U by striking out a tang of suilicient length that it Will engage with the pawls 2| without rubbing against the end of the shade roller Ei when the wrench is in complete engagement with the shade-roller shaft Il.

Although the dog I9 and arms 9 could be formed as separate elements and secured to the head portion 5, it will be appreciated that for ease and inexpensiveness of production, it is desirable to stamp them integrally with the body member I. A complete cylindrical wall could be employed in place of the arms 9 but such a wall is not necessary and would be more diflioult and expensive to produce in a stamping operation. The head portion 5 of body member I and the socket 1, therein, as well as the length of the arms 9, may be varied in order to accommodate them for correct operation upon dierent sizes of the shade rollers. The length of the handle portion 3 is also optional. However, I have produced a satisfactory wrench which is adapted for use with a shade roller identified by the name Columbia the wrench having the following dimensions: The sheet metal stock is approximately 1% inch in thickness and the measurement from the center of the socket 'I to the end of the handle 3 is 4%; inches, with the head portion being approximately 1 inch in diameter. The socket is approximately sie of an inch in width and 1A inch in length and the three guide arms 9 which are spaced apart 120", are approximately 1/2 inch long and T5@ inch wide. The dog is about l@ inch in length and 1/8 inch in Width. It will be understood, of course, that all of the foregoing measurements are merely by Way of illustration and not by Way of limitation, since the Wrench may be formed to conform to the dimensions of various sizes of shade rollers.

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not intend to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since various changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention will be suggested to others by this disclosure.

I claim:

1. A shade roller wrench comprising a body member having a handle portion and a head portion, a non-circular socket disposed substantially centrally of the head portion, said socket being adapted to i'lt about the end of the shade roller shaft and being non-rotatable relative to the shaft, a guide connected withy the head portion and having Wall means adapted to t about the end of the shade roller and to engage the periphery of said end at three or more positions spaced apart on an arc of more than 180, said guide having its axis substantially coinciding with the axis of said socket, and said wall means being 6o adapted to rotate about the end of the shade roller, a dog extending at an angle from the plane of said head portion and being rigidly connected with the head portion radially closer to the socket than is the Wall means, said dog being adapted to be rotated past the pawls of the shade roller by shifting the pawls about their pivotal mountings when the spring of the shade roller is being wound up by the wrench and being adapted to engage said pawls and be stopped thereby from rotation when the wrench is rotated in the opposite direction.

2a A sheet metal stamping formed as a shade roller wrench and comprising a handle portion and a head portion formed integrally, a socket in the head portion, said socket comprising a noncircular aperture through the stamping, and a guide comprising a plurality of flanges turned out from the plane of the head and spaced about the socket, said flanges being adapted to fit about the end of the shade roller for rotation thereabout, and said guide having its axis substantially coinciding with the axis of said socket, and a dog turned out from the plane of said head portion in the same direction as said flanges, said dog being rigidly connected with the head portion radially closer to the socket than are the flanges and being adapted to be rotated past the pawls of the shade roller by shifting the pawls about their pivotal mountings when the spring of the shade roller is being wound up by the wrench and being adapted to engage said pawls and be stopped thereby from rotation when the wrench is rotated in the opposite direction.

3. A sheet metal stamping formed as a shade roller wrench and comprising a handle portion and a head portion formed integrally, a noncircular socket formed in the head portion, and a guide comprising flange means connected with and extending laterally of the head portion and spaced about the socket, said flange means being adapted to t about the end of the shade roller for rotation thereabout, and said guide having its axis substantially coinciding with the axis of said socket, and a dog extending laterally of said head portion in the same direction as said flange means, said dog being rigidly connected with the head portion radially closer to the socket than is the flange means.

LLOYD F. HRIBAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 919,566 Fox Apr. 27, 1909 1,068,754 Ferry July 29, 1913 1,886,155 Bohlman Nov. 1, 1932 2,080,526 Bedford lVLay 18, 193'( 

